Philosophers, scientists and other intellectuals close to Pope Benedict will gather at his summer palace outside Rome this week for intensive discussions that could herald a fundamental shift in the Vatican's view of evolution.There have been growing signs the Pope is considering aligning his church more closely with the theory of "intelligent design" taught in some US states. Advocates of the theory argue that some features of the universe and nature are so complex that they must have been designed by a higher intelligence. Critics say it is a disguise for creationism. A prominent anti-evolutionist and Roman Catholic scientist, Dominique Tassot, told the US National Catholic Reporter that this week's meeting was "to give a broader extension to the debate. Even if [the Pope] knows where he wants to go, and I believe he does, it will take time. ... http://www.guardian.co.uk

The top electoral court in Mexico is to release the crucial results of a partial recount of the votes in the 2 July presidential election on Monday. There have been mass protests by the opposition since conservative candidate Felipe Calderon was declared winner by less than 1% of the vote. Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has led the protests demanding a recount of all 41m ballots cast. The electoral court must formally declare the winner by 6 September. The seven judges on the Federal Electoral Tribunal will meet at 0800 (1300 GMT) to begin considering 375 complaints of vote-tampering. It is not clear how long the process will last. ...http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42010000/jpg/_42010542_combo_ap203b.jpg

Blue Grass Airport is a small airport ringed by beautiful horse farms, white fences and rolling fields. Just before dawn Sunday, this bucolic setting in the heart of Kentucky's famed Thoroughbred horse country became a scene of fire and death. Comair Flight 5191, carrying 47 passengers and three crewmembers on a short hop to Atlanta, roared down a runway too short for a large passenger jet's takeoff and smashed into a pasture. Only the co-pilot survived. Throughout a warm, sunny afternoon, coroner's vans drove slowly down a winding gravel drive from the crash site at the top of a hill. They headed toward the state medical examiner's office in Frankfort. As darkness fell Sunday evening, three trucks with floodlights pulled up to illuminate the scene. "It's a tragic situation to see that many people lose their lives," said Lexington Police Chief Anthany Beatty, an officer in the city of 268,000 for 34 years. Lexington, he said, had not suffered such a tragedy in his memory. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-27-crash-survivor_x.htm?csp=34

U.S. and Iraqi military leaders are pressing Iraq's Shiite-dominated government to outlaw armed militias, some of which have close links to parties in the ruling coalition. This month, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, said Shiite death squads were responsible for most of the recent sectarian killing in Baghdad."The government should announce clearly to the public that all militias should be dissolved," said Maj. Gen. Bashar Mahmoud Ayoub, commander of the Iraqi army's 9th Mechanized Division.A brigade from Ayoub's division arrived this month in Baghdad to join an ongoing crackdown on sectarian violence. The frustration among some officers illustrates the difficulty Iraq's government has had in confronting militias, many of which have ties to political leaders in the National Assembly and the government. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-08-27-militias-crackdown_x.htm?csp=34

Four separate bombs at a popular Turkish coastal resort and in the country's commercial hub Istanbul wounded at least 27 people, including 10 British tourists, authorities said on Monday. Ten Britons and 11 Turks were wounded when their minibus blew up on one of the main streets of Marmaris, a busy tourist town on the Mediterranean coast. The British Foreign Office said three of the Britons were in intensive care. There were no immediate claims of responsibility. A Marmaris police official, who declined to be named, told Reuters 21 people were injured in Marmaris, including 16 people inside the minibus. Five others were hurt by two percussion bombs — all three explosions happened within 15 minutes. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2363790

Do you want hash?" the young man asks passers-by on Pusher Street, once a thriving open-air drugs market in the heart of Christiania and now an example of how times are changing in this famous Danish "free town." For decades, Christiania clung to the principles of its hippie founders, who started the settlement as a squat in a disused barracks in Copenhagen in 1971. It grew into a tourist hotspot, largely thanks to an easy trade in soft drugs. The waterfront district feels like an oasis: rose bushes and wild hedges twist between the haphazardly built houses, workshops, cafes and workmen's huts. People sip beer or smoke joints on benches, while dogs sunbathe on the worn cobblestones. The community, which does not recognize Danish law, governs itself by consensus on everything from finances to disputes between neighbors. Despite drugs being illegal, marijuana was for decades sold openly at stalls lining Pusher Street. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2363786